TroyBaer
Really knows where his towel is.
My Archon 50 head came stock with a pair of JJ 6L6s. but the amp will also take EL34s and KT66s. I've been wanting to try those out, especially KT66s. So, through the magic of Amazon, I came into a pair of JJ E34Ls and a pair of Shuguang KT66s and tried them out in the Archon. Also, just for grins, I decided to do a test shot with my JJ 6V6Ses, just to see if they would tolerate the voltages.
JJ 6L6s: These started out biased super cold in my amp for some reason. Like, biased by Peavey cold. OTOH, biasing them in the PRS recommended range (~30mA) didn't really change the sound much. These are the standard tubes for the Archon, and they sound pretty good.
\begin{DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!!!}
JJ 6V6s: These worked without too much trouble, surprisingly. I biased them to ~20mA based on some assumptions/guesses about the amp's B+ voltage range and the JJ 6V6's plate dissipation rating. (I would not want to try EHX or other current production 6V6s in this amp!) Anyway, they sounded OK but nothing special -- as you might expect, they put out less bass and a little less volume than the 6L6s. If this is how the MT15 sounded with 6V6s, I understand why they went with 6L6s instead.
\end{DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!!!}
JJ E34Ls: I was surprised that these biased (~30mA) and sounded almost exactly like the JJ 6L6s. I expected to hear a bit of bass cut and mid boost, but other than the slightly bigger bottles and hotter heaters, they're pretty much indistinguishable from the 6L6s. Maybe I'm just not playing loud enough to hear a difference.
Shuguang KT66s: Wow. These are huge compared to the 6L6s and E34Ls -- they just barely fit in the amp, and they biased (~40mA) and run super hot compared to the others. They sound huge as well, with deeper bass and treble and a little more mids than the 6L6s. The Archon already has a pretty wide frequency spectrum, and IMHO the KT66s make it even wider.
After the experiments, the KT66s went back in for the foreseeable future. They sound freaking awesome.
JJ 6L6s: These started out biased super cold in my amp for some reason. Like, biased by Peavey cold. OTOH, biasing them in the PRS recommended range (~30mA) didn't really change the sound much. These are the standard tubes for the Archon, and they sound pretty good.
\begin{DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!!!}
JJ 6V6s: These worked without too much trouble, surprisingly. I biased them to ~20mA based on some assumptions/guesses about the amp's B+ voltage range and the JJ 6V6's plate dissipation rating. (I would not want to try EHX or other current production 6V6s in this amp!) Anyway, they sounded OK but nothing special -- as you might expect, they put out less bass and a little less volume than the 6L6s. If this is how the MT15 sounded with 6V6s, I understand why they went with 6L6s instead.
\end{DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!!!}
JJ E34Ls: I was surprised that these biased (~30mA) and sounded almost exactly like the JJ 6L6s. I expected to hear a bit of bass cut and mid boost, but other than the slightly bigger bottles and hotter heaters, they're pretty much indistinguishable from the 6L6s. Maybe I'm just not playing loud enough to hear a difference.
Shuguang KT66s: Wow. These are huge compared to the 6L6s and E34Ls -- they just barely fit in the amp, and they biased (~40mA) and run super hot compared to the others. They sound huge as well, with deeper bass and treble and a little more mids than the 6L6s. The Archon already has a pretty wide frequency spectrum, and IMHO the KT66s make it even wider.
After the experiments, the KT66s went back in for the foreseeable future. They sound freaking awesome.